4 children die of cholera in Kunar

ASADABAD (PAN): Four children have died of suspected cholera and roughly 136 others have so far been infected in the Chapa Dara district of eastern Kunar province, residents and a health official said on Sunday.

He said residents suffered from vomiting and diarrhea, which are symptoms of the cholera that had so far claimed the lives of four children.

"There is only one clinic which lacks medicine, while the number of infected people are high," he said. A team of doctors that arrived in the district four days ago distributed some medicines among the people, Nasrullah said.

"Due to days of consecutive rains and floods, a disease similar to the cholera epidemic has broken out among residents," Public Health Director, Asadullah Fazli, told Pajhwok Afghan News.

“We have sent two teams of doctors to Chapa Dara district to control the disease, with doctors at the district clinic working extra. We have also dispatched a large sum of medicine to them,” he said.

The distribution of chlorine was underway in other areas to prevent any possible infection of the disease, the health official said.

Doctor teams have so far examined 560 people infected with the diseases in the district, where 136 cases of diarrhea surfaced. Fazli said two people had died of the disease. “We advise all people not to use water from rivers and springs. We suggest the use of boiled water and mineral water," Fazli added.